Google Launches Gigabit Network in Provo, Utah: Soon to Have Largest Number of Fiber Subscribers

PROVO, UTAH, October 16, 2013 – This university town in the shadow of the Wasatch Front is poised to take the lead in the number of Google Fiber users that subscribe the search engine giant’s game-changing effort to bring Gigabit Networks to the United States.

With the launch of Google Fiber service to customers of the existing iProvo fiber network, this month Google began offering service to existing residential customers here who use the service. And, because the fiber network in Provo is nearly universal – reaching almost every home and multi-dwelling unit – Provo will quickly exceed Kansas City in the number of Google Fiber subscribers.

Almost six months ago, on April 17, 2013, Google announced that it would bring its Gigabit service to this city of 116,000, home to Brigham Young University, many of its graduates, and an increasing pool of internet and tech start-ups.

Google announcement that it would offer service in Provo and in Austin, Texas (announced about a week earlier, on April 8, 2013), signaled that the company wasn’t limiting its fiber-optic service to a single-market test bed in Kansas City, Kansas; and Kansas City, Missouri.

But unlike both Kansas City and Austin, where Google is building a Gigabit Network from scratch, its purchase of the iProvo fiber network gives this city the edge in being the first universally-available Gigabit Network by Google.

Additionally, here in Provo Google is offering an additional benefit to residents: unlimited access to free broadband of 5 Megabit per second (Mbps) download, and 1 Mbps upload, for the next seven years.

This service is available to Provo residents because of a municipal telecommunications fee of $5.35/month imposed in September 2011 to pay for the costs of building the iProvo. The free service is available to Provo residents for a one-time connection fee of $30.

For 1 Gigabit per second service, both download and upload, Google Fiber is using pricing similar to what it has charged in Kansas City: $70/month for Gigabit service, or $120/month for Gigabit service plus cable television.

Although owned by the city, the iProvo network had been operated by telecommunications company Veracity, which also offered customers retail broadband services.

Those customers will now get the first opportunity to sign up for Google Fiber here. Other Provo residents for whom the municipal fiber network was available, but who had chosen to subscribe to a private-company alternative, will have to wait until January to sign-up for service.

In a blog post by Google Fiber on the new service in Provo, the company wrote:

Veracity customers get the first crack at signing up for Fiber service — they’re already hooked up to our newly-upgraded fiber because they’ve been connected to the former iProvo network, so it will be efficient and quick to install Google Fiber for any of them who want to switch providers. This “first chance” opportunity is only for Veracity residential customers right now; other Provo residents and local small businesses can go to our website and sign-up to be notified when Fiber is coming to their area.

If you’re a Veracity residential customer, this means you’re eligible for Google Fiber service, including an Internet connection that’s up to 100 times faster than basic broadband. All you have to do is go to google.com/fiber/provo, enter your address, and select which Google Fiber package (Gigabit Internet, Gigabit + TV, or Free Internet) you want. In order to get this early access to Google Fiber, make sure you sign up before October 31.

Google has launched in Provo, Utah, which is nestled between Mount Timpanogos and Mount Cascade

Drew Clark is the Chairman of the Broadband Breakfast Club. He tracks the development of Gigabit Networks, broadband's impact, and the universal service fund @BroadbandCensus. He is also Of Counsel with the firm of Best Best & Krieger LLP. The articles and posts on BroadbandBreakfast.com and affiliated social media, including LinkedIN, are not legal advice or legal services, do not constitute the creation of an attorney-client privilege, and represent the views of their respective authors.